Wildlife

Issue: State Law Allows Tortoises To Be Buried Alive.

September 12, 2005

If Florida can make room for 1,000 new humans a day, it should be able to find homes for tortoises already residing in the Sunshine State.

So far, efforts to accommodate development and environment have brutally failed. Since 1991, state officials have granted builders permits to "entomb or kill" as many as 71,000 gopher tortoises, though it's not clear the permits resulted in that many deaths.

But, yes, the permits mean just what they say: Developers were allowed to bury the tortoises alive by paving over their habitats, leaving them to die slow, cruel deaths.

State officials justify entombing, saying moving the tortoises isn't always possible because there isn't enough land for new habitats. Ecology is a complex science, and there's probably a lot of truth to that.

However, there's another factor at work: money. Entombing is cheaper than relocation.

The cruelty that state policy permits is unconscionable and unacceptable. State officials must simply do more.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ought to change the tortoises' designation to "threatened," if appropriate. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should fund a study to see if the tortoises merit endangered species status.

These efforts would raise attention about the tortoises' plight. More thought and support might facilitate efforts to find workable solutions.

The gopher tortoise is a valuable species in Florida's ecosystem. Its burrows provide havens for many other species.

They deserve better than to be buried alive for another shopping center.

BOTTOM LINE: "Entombing" is cruel. There must be a more compassionate solution.